Luminary Award Bestowed Upon Jane Campion
New Zealander Jane Campion has been honoured with Next Generation Indie Film’s 2023 Luminary Award. The director accepted the award at the third annual gala, which took place at the end of October in…
Tag Archives: Variety Magazine
Mysterious Ways Set for N American Release
Specialty distributor Ariztical Entertainment has acquired the North American rights to New Zealand-set wholesome gay love story Mysterious Ways, with a multi-platform digital release in 2024, Patrick Frater reports for Variety. Written and directed by…
Cocaine Bear is Actually Allan Henry
The cocaine bear in Elizabeth Banks’ Cocaine Bear is an impressive feat of visual effects wizardry, but there was an actual person behind the 227-kilogram, drug-addicted beast, and that person was New Zealander Allan…
Melanie Lynskey Analyses Last of Us Character
When The Last of Us co-creator Craig Mazin pitched a role in the series to New Zealand-born actor Melanie Lynskey, he started with a bang: “He called me and said, ‘I would love for…
Killer Doll Movie M3GAN Reviews Well in US
New Zealand director Gerard Johnstone’s latest film, the comedy horror M3GAN, is well reviewed in Variety, with critic Owen Gleiberman describing it as “creepy, preposterous and diverting”. “Gemma (Allison Williams), a robotics engineer, works for…
Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh Awarded at CineEurope
Studiocanal CEO New Zealand-born Anna Marsh has been named International Distributor of the Year at CineEurope, the exhibition conference which took place in June, in Barcelona. Andrew Sunshine, president of CineEurope organiser Film Expo Group,…
Life After Life’s Thomasin McKenzie is Otherworldly
At just 21, Thomasin McKenzie, who plays Ursula in the four-part BBC series Life After Life, already has a list of impressive credits including Leave No Trace and Last Night in Soho. BAFTA winning…
Joel Little’s Big Fan a Gift to the Music Industry
Walk into the unembellished black building tucked away in Morningside, Auckland, later this year and there’s no telling what musical superstars one might find, Leena Tailor writes in an exclusive story for Variety. The…
Andrew Dominik’s Nick Cave Doco Hypnotises
“Illuminating tracks from the superb 2019 Bad Seeds album Ghosteen and Nick Cave’s 2021 collaboration with Warren Ellis, Carnage, this remarkable performance documentary may be for the Nick…
How Peter Jackson Became a Local Hero after LOTR
When Amazon announced in August 2021 that its billion-dollar Lord of the Rings TV series would shift production to England, fans were stunned. Though J.R.R. Tolkien was British and though the settings are fictional,…
Weta Digital Tech Sale has 1.65 Billion Special Effects
Unity Software, a 3D game-development platform, is expanding its VFX footprint in a big way with the US$1.625 billion acquisition of the technology division of Peter Jackson’s New Zealand-based Weta Digital, Todd Spangler reports…
Film Pioneer Jane Campion Still Ahead of Her Time
“When French filmmaker Julia Ducournau took the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year for Titane, her wild explosion of body horror and gender politics, Jane Campion’s status in film history shifted slightly: no longer…
Variety’s Power of Women Issue Features Lorde
For Variety’s 2021 Power of Women issue, the magazine spoke with several women in the entertainment industry, including New Zealand pop singer Lorde, who are using their voices to benefit worthy causes. After grappling with…
Peter Jackson Astonishes With Beatles Documentary
“In a brilliant move, the Beatles him to work on the 56 hours of…
At Home With Teen Producer Jawsh 685
Created by American Jason Derulo using Aucklander Joshua Stylah’s instrumental “Laxed (Siren Beat)”, the track “Savage Love” has topped the charts in the UK, New Zealand and Australia, surpassed 1.1 billion streams and was…
Roseanne Liang’s Shadow in the Cloud a Blast
“Imagine how Ripley of Alien would handle a Nightmare at 20,000 Feet-style gremlin attack. Sound wild? Roseanne Liang’s female empowerment thriller delivers on that premise.” Variety’s Peter Debruge reviews the New Zealand director’s film…
Story of WWII Spy Nancy Wake To Hit TV Screens
Anonymous Content, the company behind True Detective and The Revenant, has acquired the TV rights to the New York Times bestselling novel Code Name Hélène written by Ariel Lawhon about Wellington-born World War II heroine…
Stacey Lee’s Doco Underplayed to Show at TriBeCa
Among the documentaries premiering at this year’s TriBeCa Film Festival in April is New Zealand-born, Los Angeles-based Stacey Lee’s debut feature-length project, Underplayed, about the gender inequality in electronic music, Lily Moayeri reports for…
Studiocanal Names Anna Marsh Its CEO
New Zealander Anna Marsh, the newly appointed CEO of leading European film and TV group Studiocanal, comes off as self-contained and mild-mannered, but her bullish track record at the company and relationships with big-name…
The Luminaries TV Adaptation Coming Soon
Lead produced by Working Title Television, distributed internationally by Fremantle and coming soon to BBC Two, period thriller The Luminaries, adapted from New Zealand author Eleanor Catton’s prize-winning novel, has initiated a global roll-out,…
Rich Production Incentives Draw Global Projects
For a small country with a film industry that is export-driven, the quality of New Zealand’s incentives is critical, Variety’s Asia bureau chief Patrick Frater reports. Despite the kudos and tourism dollars delivered by producing…
Filmmaker Daniel Borgman Busy in Light and Shadow
Dunedin-born filmmaker Daniel Borgman, 31, whose latest film Resin world has premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Contemporary World Cinema section, is now developing “a pair of high-concept projects”: the crime…
Virgin Media’s Tom Mockridge to Step Down
New Zealander Tom Mockridge is exiting his role as CEO at UK cabler Virgin Media and will return to Italy to be with his family. He has had a long career in pay TV…
Taika Waititi to Direct ‘Time Bandits’ Series
The “Thor: Ragnarok” director is set to helm Apple’s TV adaptation of Terry Gilliam’s 1981 fantasy flick Time Bandits, which is currently in development,” writes Bill Thorne in an article for Variety. “The…
Jason Momoa Performs Haka at Aquaman Premiere
Aquaman star Jason Momoa has wowed fans when he led a massive red carpet haka at the film’s premiere on Thursday night. Variety reports. “For the uninitiated,…
Cast Announced for BBC’s The Luminaries Adaptation
Eva Green (“Casino Royale”), Eve Hewson (“The Knick”) and Marton Csokas (“Into the Badlands”) will star in “The Luminaries, “the TV adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s award-winning novel,” writes Stewart Clarke in an article for…
Anna Paquin Stars in New Film Tell It to the Bees
New Zealander Anna Paquin’s new film, Tell It to the Bees may be set in a small Scottish village in the 1950s, but it deals with issues that are still…
Taika Waititi Joins Watts and Waltz on Venice Jury
New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi and actors Naomi Watts and Christoph Waltz join the main jury of the Venice Film Festival, which will be presided over by director Guillermo del Toro, the winner of…
Melanie Lynskey Stars in Stephen King Thriller
“Castle Rock is a giant basket of Easter eggs for King people, but for the rest of us it’s a decent show layered with supernatural secrets waiting to be decoded,” according to John…
Anna Paquin: “You Don’t Do It for Fame, Finance or Glory”
“Sitting down with Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge, Paquin discussed the release of her newest independent movie at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic.” Tara Bitran reports for
It: Chapter Two Casts Jay Ryan as Adult Ben
Auckland-born actor Jay Ryan, 36, has been cast as the adult version of Ben Hanscom in New Line’s It: Chapter Two, sources confirmed to Variety. Ryan joins Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader, who…
Marlon Williams Accompanies Wild Wild Country
Despite working with a “micro-budget”, music supervisor Chris Swanson weaves an inspired sonic accompaniment to the Netflix hit Wild Wild Country, a documentary about the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his followers….
Anna Paquin Does Some Detective Work in Bellevue
New Zealander Anna Paquin plays Detective Anna Ryder in the Canadian television series, Bellevue. “Paquin, whose onscreen presence guarantees an otherworldly, alienating grace, is doing more work than is first apparent,” Variety TV critic…
Beulah Koale’s Role Breakout Performance of ‘17
New Zealand actor Beulah Koale’s role in the 2017 film Thank You For Your Service has been deemed a “breakout” performance of the year by industry publication Variety. “As more people discover this quiet gem…
Anna Paquin Stars in Atwood Adaption Alias Grace
Alias Grace, Netflix’s limited series from writer/producer Sarah Polley and director Mary Harron based on Margaret Atwood’s novel, dives deep into the life of the convicted murderer, but whether or not she was truly…
Actor Beulah Koale Shines as Heartfelt Warrior
“Miles Teller hits the true note, and so does the rest of a superb cast , in a drama of Iraq War veterans that sidesteps all the coming-home clichés,” Variety’s Owen…
Thor: Ragnarok Marvel’s Best Film to Date
Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok has an “oddly beautiful scuffed-plastic aesthetic”; it’s “funny, charming, dazzling, gorgeously designed, and full of actors you already like,” with Waititi managing “to finally imbue Marvel’s dullest Avenger with a…
Toronto Film Fest Review of Human Traces
“A sub-Antarctic research station is the setting for Human Traces, a twisty psychological thriller from promising New Zealand director Nic Gorman,” Richard Kuipers writes in a review for Variety. “Isolation is anything but splendid in…
Kimberley Crossman To Star in Showtime’s ‘SMILF’
“The upcoming Showtime comedy series SMILF has cast New Zealand-born actress Kimberley Crossman in a recurring role,” reports Joe Otterson for Variety. Crossman will play Kit-Cat, the roommate of…
Callan Mulvey Joins Outlaw King Cast
Auckland-born actor Callan Mulvey, 42, is joining the cast of upcoming American-Scottish historical action drama Outlaw King, which will be aired on Netflix. According to Variety, Mulvey will be playing the role of Sir John…
Reasons Behind the China Girl in Top of the Lake
There’s certainly a great deal of thematic resonance in the first series of Top of the Lake and this one, beginning with women immersed in a body of water, a narrative of pregnancy secretly…
NZ a World Power of High-End Filmmaking
“Breathtaking landscapes have long made New Zealand a prime filming location. Where else, after all, can one find alpine glaciers side by side with subtropical seacoasts?” entertainment trade magazine Variety writes. “Plus, the country’s highly…
Warner’s Meg Helps Launch Kumeu Film Studio
New Zealand’s newest production facility, the Kumeu Film Studio is to launch thanks to a three-way partnership built around the China-Hollywood co-produced, action-adventure film Meg, according to an exclusive story in Variety. The studio facility…
Sundance Grand Jury Winner Stars Melanie Lynskey
The presciently titled I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, starring New Plymouth-born actor Melanie Lynskey, pulled off a surprise victory at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival Awards ceremony taking the grand…
NZ & Canada Sign Co-Production Treaty
New Zealand and Canada have “signed a co-production treaty that will allow enhanced film and TV industry cooperation between the two English-speaking territories,” writes Patrick Frater for Variety. “The treaty was signed…
Sam Neill to Play Texan Patriarch in TV’s The Son
New Zealand actor Sam Neill will star in the AMC television network drama The Son, playing the patriarch of a Texas family in a multigenerational story of the clan’s rise and fall. Production on the…
David Farrier’s Doco Tickled a Hit with Critics
New investigative documentary, the “engrossing” Tickled, co-directed by New Zealanders David Farrier and Dylan Reeve, has received rave reviews from critics and punters after its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Farrier and Dylan Reeve’s…
New Zealand’s Post-Hobbit World
Even after the end of Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of The Rings’ movies, the New Zealand film and TV business is thriving and “turning the land that once served as Middle-Earth into a host of…
Cliff Curtis on Returning to New Zealand to Produce
New Zealand actor Cliff Curtis says that returning to New Zealand to tell local stories keeps him sane. “It sort of grounds me and gives me a sense of purpose,” said Curtis. His next project alongside…
Banshee’ Releases Final Season Trailer
The trailer for the fourth and final season of small-town crime drama Banshee has been released. January 29 has been set as the show’s premiere date. New Zealand actor Antony Starr is starring as Lucas…
American Cinematheque to Honour Cliff Curtis
New Zealander Cliff Curtis, 47, who portrayed speed chess genius Genesis Potini in The Dark Horse, will be honoured by the American Cinematheque at a ceremony on 11 October at the Aero Theatre in…
Anna Paquin to Star Alongside Forest Whitaker
Golden Globe and Academy Award winner Anna Paquin has been cast in a new role opposite Forest Whitaker in the epic television miniseries, Roots, which is based on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel as well…
Born to Dance at TIFF
“Auckland, New Zealand may seem a world away from the heart of hip-hop culture in the US, but the local dance crews featured in Born to Dance totally own it”, writes Justin Lowe for
Richard Taylor to Help Bring Monkey King to US
Special effects maestro New Zealander Richard Taylor will direct the design of characters in the upcoming American film version of The Monkey King, a Chinese blockbuster. “There has been a rush to bring Western-originated movies to…
Jake Mahaffy’s Rare and Valuable New Film Lauded
Jake Mahaffy’s evocation of a borderline unbearable true-life tragedy, Free In Deed is a bracing, bruising corrective to the “faith-based filmmaking” movement, according to Indiewire. The New Zealand-raised director’s third film, set in and…
On the True Detective Set With DOP Nigel Bluck
Recently rated by Variety magazine as one of 10 cinematographers to watch, New Zealander Nigel Bluck, 43, has been working as director of photography on the second season of popular…
